The background description provided here is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure.
Passenger cars and trucks typically incorporate a side impact air bag (SIAB) module. During a side impact crash event involving a passenger car or truck having a SIAB module, it is important for interior trim components, such as the interior door trim panel, not to begin disengaging from the metal door frame to which it is mounted immediately upon the beginning stage of the side impact crash event, or in other words within the first few milliseconds of the start of the side impact crash event. Rather, it is important for the interior door trim panel to remain attached to the metal door frame for some definite time period after the start of a side impact crash event so that disengagement of the interior door trim panel does not defect deployment of the SIAB module. This is because during some types of side impact crash events, there may be a tendency for a conventionally secured interior door trim panel to virtually immediately detach and begin moving upwardly (i.e., in the +Z direction) toward the vehicle roof. With this upward movement brings the risk of the interior door trim panel interfering with proper deployment of the SIAB module, which is mounted adjacent to the vehicle roof above the door.
The ability of the interior vehicle door trim panel to remain secured to the metal door frame for a time after the full deployment of the SIAB module when experiencing the onset of a side impact crash event, may also be important for successfully completing specific types of vehicle crash tests performed by various governmental testing agencies on new cars and trucks. Such governmental agencies may include, for example, the European New Car Assessment Program (NCAP) “Pole Impact” test, and/or ECE (Economic Commission for Europe) “R95” moving barrier test, and possibly one or more tests performed by the U.S. National Highway Safety Transportation Association (NHTSA) on new cars and trucks.
In one solution for ensuring that the interior door trim panel stays secured to the metal door frame, high strength BB-style threaded fasteners may be used to secure an interior plastic door panel. An associated metal clip may also be required to be secured to a door inner metal of the door frame, in order to secure a portion of the interior door trim panel to the door inner metal using the BB-style threaded fastener.
As will be appreciated, then, there is a strong interest in simplifying the attachment of the interior door panel to a door inner metal portion of a vehicle door in a manner which prevents upward movement of the interior door panel during a side impact crash, but which still forms a cost effective approach for securing the interior door panel.